David Y. Ige

HONOLULU — Hawaii has awarded 11 projects to eligible non-profit and for-profit entities totaling more than $427,000 through the 2017 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The federal program, funded by the Farm Bill, provides grants to state departments of agriculture to fund projects that solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, such as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) submitted the application to the USDA in June 2017 and will be administering the program. The approved projects support activities for research and increasing production of specialty crops, including cacao, taro, mango, cucumber, banana, legumes and Christmas trees. The projects funded include farmer education and agricultural marketing programs. A list of the projects funded by the SCBGP is attached.

The USDA SCBGP has awarded more than $60.5 million nationwide for this coming fiscal year. The grant period runs from September 2017 to September 2020.

For more information on the USDA SCBGP, go to: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scbgp/awards

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Attachment: List of SCBGP Grants

Media Contact:

Janelle Saneishi, Public Information Officer

Hawaii Department of Agriculture

(808) 973-9560

[email protected]
https://hdoa.hawaii.gov

 

 

LIST OF GRANTS AWARDED IN HAWAII

 

#	Project Title Organization — Project Manager	Direct	Indirect	Total
1	“Macro-Propagation Techniques for Disease Free Banana Planting Material in the Pacific” University of Hawaii – Jensen Uyeda	$ 39,557.00		$ 39,557.00
2	“Production and Evaluation of Mid to Low Elevation Locally-Grown Trees to Replace Imported Christmas Trees” Hawaii Forest Industry Association – Heather Simmons	$ 40,000.00		$ 40,000.00
3	“Increasing Cacao Production Through Improved Orchard Management” Oahu RC&D – Jean Brokish	$ 39,474.00		$ 39,474.00
4	“High Density Mango Planting Designs to increase Profitability of Mango Production in Hawaii” Hawaii Agriculture Research Center – Tyler Jones	$ 34,350.00		$ 34,350.00
5	“Organic Butternut Squash & Kalo Farmers” Molokai Homestead Farmers Alliance- Faith Tuipulotu	$ 37,920.00		$ 37,920.00
6	“Specialty Organic Cucumber Production in Hawaii Using Screenhouse and Multipurpose Companion Plants” University of Hawaii – Jeffrey Ibara	$ 40,000.00		$ 40,000.00
7	“Evaluating Mechanical Harvest and Agronomical Treatments to Improve Legume Crops Growth and Yield in Hawaii” University of Hawaii – Amjad Ahmad	$ 40,000.00		$ 40,000.00
8	“Gourmet Potato Medley Crop” Pacific Gateway Center – Tin Myaing	$ 40,000.00		$ 40,000.00
9	“2018 Hawaii Potted Tropical Plants National Marketing Campaign” Hawaii Export Nursery Association – Dawn Kitagawa	$ 40,000.00		$ 40,000.00
10	“Peppercorn Production and Propagation Education for the Local Hawaiian Market” Mauka Vista Farms LLC – Douglas DeFilippi	$ 23,081.16		$ 23,081.16
11	“Hawaii-Grown Specialty Crops Marketing Campaign – Year 2” Hawaii Department of Agriculture – Sharon Hurd	$18,070.39		$18,070.39
Grant Administration Approved Indirect Fixed Cost Rate Agreement and Provisionary Rate is 13.30% for FY 18 and FY 19 (memo attached) maximum 8% has been budgeted as indirect cost.			$34,126.30	$34,126.30
Total		$392,452.45	34,126.30	$426,578.75